Shemos 1:15 · unit 1

Parashas Shemos · Passuk 1:15

The Complete Passuk

וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרַ֔יִם לַֽמְיַלְּדֹ֖ת הָֽעִבְרִיֹּ֑ת אֲשֶׁ֨ר שֵׁ֤ם הָֽאַחַת֙ שִׁפְרָ֔ה וְשֵׁ֥ם הַשֵּׁנִ֖ית פּוּעָֽה׃

The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah,

Chabad.org — 1:15

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Rav and Shmuel — Sotah 11b (verified).

Sefaria — Sotah 11b

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text — Sotah 11b

למיילדות העבריות — פליגי בה רב ושמואל, חד אמר אשה ובתה – יוכבד ומרים, וחד אמר כלה וחמותה – יוכבד ואלישבע.

English: “To the Hebrew midwives” — Rav and Shmuel disagree. One said a woman and her daughter — Yocheved and Miriam; the other said a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law — Yocheved and Elisheva.

On the daf / in context: The two opinions identify the midwives with the leading women of the Levitical household. Both readings preserve the tradition that the refusal to kill the infants came from within Moshe’s own family circle.

Type of Learning

Custom — identification of the anonymous midwives.

What Is Learned

Chazal identify the midwives with Yocheved and either Miriam or Elisheva, locating the first act of civil resistance inside the future redeemer’s family.

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